Mintzbergs Management Roles

1) What are managerial roles?

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2) Henry Mintzberg studied CEOs at work and created a categorization scheme to define what managers do on
the job. These are commonly referred to as Mintzbergs Managerial Roles.

Interpersonal Skills
Role

Description

Identifiable Activity

Manager serves as an official representative of

the organization or unit

Greeting visitors; signing legal documents

Manager guides and motivates staff and acts

as a positive influence in the workplace

Staffing, training

Manager interacts with peers and with people

outside the organization to gain information

Acknowledging mail/email; serving on boards;

performing activities that involve outsiders

Informational Skills
Role

Description

Identifiable Activity

Manager receives and collects information

Reading magazines and reports; maintaining

personal contacts

Manager distributes information within the

organization

Holding meetings; making phone calls to relay

information; email/memos

Manager distributes information outside the

organization

Holding board meetings; giving information to the

media

Decisional Skills
Role

Description

Identifiable Activity

Manager initiates change

Organizing sessions to develop new programs;

supervises design of projects

Manager decides how conflicts between

subordinates should be resolved

Steps in when an employee suddenly leaves or an

important customer is lost

Manager decides how the organization will use

its resources

Scheduling; requesting authorization; budgeting

Manager decides to negotiate major contracts

with other organizations or individuals

Participating in union contract negotiations or in

those with suppliers

3) Is a managers job universal? In other words, do all managers spend their time working on the same tasks?
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4) What is the difference between a for-profit and a not-for-profit organization? Provide an example of each.
For-Profit

Not-For-Profit

Description:

Description:

Example:

Example:

5) Define what a small business is.

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6) Describe how managers of small businesses spend their time?

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7) Are the roles managers are performing the same in different countries around the world?
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8) All managers make decisions. What decision making process can the best managers follow?
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9) An agent of change is a person who can change from the traditional way of handling or thinking about a
problem or environment. How are managers agents of change?
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